Glendale police have arrested two people suspected of breaking into a pair of local pharmacies, part of what investigators describe as a broader pattern of pharmacy burglaries playing out across Los Angeles County. The suspects were taken into custody after detectives tied them to break-ins at Western Pharmacy and Riley's Pharmacy, recovering guns, cash and stolen narcotics along the way.
Police said the two are believed to have burglarized Western Pharmacy in Glendale on Aug. 26 and Riley's Pharmacy on Oct. 11, according to KTLA. Detectives with the Glendale Police Department's burglary detail identified suspect vehicles and zeroed in on two primary suspects they believed were connected to both incidents, according to NBC Los Angeles.
A Wider Net Across the County
As the case developed, Glendale detectives learned the Los Angeles Police Department was investigating numerous pharmacy burglaries involving the same suspects, the station's report states. That overlap pushed the case beyond a single city's jurisdiction and into a county-wide effort to track down those responsible.
To finally bring in the suspects, Glendale burglary detectives worked with the United States Marshals Task Force, K9 units, narcotics detectives and a special enforcement detail officer, per the same account. The coordinated push ended with both suspects in custody, though police have not released their identities or said what charges, if any, they may face.
Guns, Cash and Drugs Recovered
The haul recovered during the investigation paints a picture of an operation moving serious volume. Multiple firearms, more than $75,000 in cash, stolen narcotics, burglary tools and clothing allegedly worn during the burglaries were all recovered, police said, as reported by KTLA.
Separately, the Los Angeles Police Department has been investigating a string of overnight pharmacy break-ins of its own, though the evidence does not establish a direct connection to the Glendale case. According to FOX 11 Los Angeles, detectives from the affected neighborhoods planned to compare notes to see whether those incidents were linked. One of those cases involved four suspects entering St. Mary Pharmacy in Chatsworth while a getaway driver waited in an SUV, allegedly making off with a safe full of prescription medication, FOX 11 reported. Another break-in at Bellaire Pharmacy in North Hollywood involved five to six suspects dressed in black and wearing masks who stole medication, the station noted.
Not the First Time Pharmacies Have Been Targeted
Pharmacy burglaries hitting multiple Southland cities at once are not new. In 2020, police said a trio of suspects was believed to be responsible for a series of pharmacy burglaries across Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. Investigators in that case believed the burglaries in Pasadena and Los Angeles happened between January and February, based on surveillance video and evidence collected at each scene, the Times reported.
Burbank detectives at the time investigated at least two completed burglaries and two attempted ones believed to involve that same trio, per the Times' reporting. In one of those break-ins, suspects reportedly cut a hole through a shared wall to get inside a pharmacy and stole a large amount of prescription medication, including hydrocodone.
For now, the Glendale case remains open, with police declining to release the identities of the two people arrested or disclose what, if any, charges they may be facing.
